9-year-old girl hit, wounded by stray bullet while resting in Marikina home

MANILA, Philippines — A nine-year-old girl lying on her bed while watching television was hit by a stray bullet that got into their house in Barangay Malanday, Marikina City, on Wednesday night.

Francia Grace Aragon, a grade 3 student of the Malanday Elementary School, was hit on the left breast around 11 p.m.

Senior Superintendent Vincent Calanoga, chief of the Marikina City Police station, said the girl was with her mother when they heard a gunshot. Immediately, Aragon shouted she was hit, with blood already flowing from her left breast

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The bullet apparently hit the roof of the bungalow and then the victim, Calanoga said.

Senior Superintendent Edwin De Ocampo, deputy for operations of the Eastern Police District, said this was the first stray bullet injury in the city since last year; and the first such case handled by the EPD in 2015.

Aragon was immediately brought to the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center and was declared to be in stable condition. On Saturday, she will undergo surgery at the Marikina Valley Medical center.

De Ocampo said the police have not determined the calibre of the firearm that injured the victim.

The bullet obtained from the girl will undergo ballistic examination, according to Calanoga.

Calanoga advised people to report to the police anyone who will be bring out their guns or fire shots. The local police’s “Bantay Lahat, Lahat Bantay” movement to keep the New Year celebration safe is using the hotline 646-1631. SFM

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